• Innovative city will make extensive use of digital technologies for smarter living and working environment
• Jeddah Tower is a vertical city that contributes to transformation planned under the Saudi Arabia National Vision 2030

Orange Business Services has signed a smart city consulting agreement with Jeddah Economic Company (JEC), the master developer of the world’s tallest tower, Jeddah Tower. The tower, which is over 1km tall, will be situated at the 5.3 million square meter Jeddah Economic City Project. Orange will create a blueprint for the ICT infrastructure of the tower, from the plan and design, to the build and run phases.

Jeddah Economic City (JEC) is located between the two Holy Cities of Makkah and Madinah on the Red Sea coast in Saudi Arabia. It aims to become the sustainable new northern district of the city of Jeddah and the focus of economic growth along the coast. JEC will be a destination for business, residences of different types, tourism, leisure, entertainment, retail, medical centers and government offices and services, and will become the new “downtown” of uptown Jeddah.

“The project aims to offer an advanced quality of life in a mixed use environment; with residential apartments of different types, offices, retail leisure and entertainment, hotels and tourism attractions public and cultural amenities, that will provide thousands of job opportunities for young Saudis in various fields and numerous investment opportunities. The implementation of the smart city components is considered as an essential step for delivering an environmentally friendly self-sustainable project. The construction of the infrastructure is going according to the set timeframe along with the supply of utilities. Next year, land for development will be ready for investors to start construction,” commented Mounib Hammoud, CEO of Jeddah Economic City.

“In Saudi Arabia, smart city projects are gaining momentum fast and are setting the pace for the region’s rapidly growing economic and technological developments planned under the Saudi National Vision 2030. Orange brings a wealth of experience in developing infrastructures and smart services for smart cities on a global level, together with insights, innovations and expertise. This includes cutting-edge digital technologies that will have a transformative impact on the way people live and how businesses will work in the future. We are delighted to be working with JEC to help them achieve their vision of transformation in the Kingdom,” said Luc Serviant, vice president Middle East & Africa, Orange Business Services.

Orange Business Services is working on a number of major smart city projects in Saudi Arabia. They include the King Abdullah Financial District (KAFD), being built by the Al Ra’idah Investment company, which is the largest of four smart cities in Saudi Arabia being built with a collective investment of over $70 billion. Orange Business Services has operated in the Middle East for over 50 years and established a local presence in Saudi Arabia in 2012 to support enterprise across all sectors in the Kingdom. It has offices in the main cities across the three provinces of Saudi Arabia – Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam.

About Orange Business Services

Orange Business Services, the B2B branch of the Orange Group, and its 22,000 employees, is focused on supporting the digital transformation of multinational enterprises and French SMEs across five continents. Orange Business Services is not only an infrastructure operator, but also a technology integrator and a value-added service provider. It offers companies digital solutions that help foster collaboration within their teams (collaborative workspaces and mobile workspaces), better serve their customers (enriched customer relations and business innovation), and support their projects (enriched connectivity, flexible IT and cyberdefense). The integrated technologies that Orange Business Services offer range from Software Defined Networks (SDN/NFV), Big Data and IoT, to cloud computing, unified communications and collaboration, as well as cybersecurity. Orange Business Services customers include over 3,000 renowned multinational corporations at an international level and over two million professionals, companies and local communities in France.

Learn more at www.orange-business.com or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and our blogs.

Orange is one of the world’s leading telecommunications operators with annual sales of 41 billion euros in 2017 and has 273 million customers in 29 countries at 31 December 2017. Orange is listed on Euronext Paris (symbol ORA) and on the New York Stock Exchange (symbol ORAN).

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The Authority supports Dubai’s transformation into a smart city by 2020

Dubai, UAE – October 8, 2014 – Dubai Airport Freezone Authority (DAFZA) is geared up to take part in “Gitex Technology Week 2014”, the largest Information and Communications Technology (ICT) event in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia. DAFZA will be announcing the completion of its new Wi-Fi service and the full implementation of its mobile application specifically designed to enable prompt and easy access of customers, employees and visitors to DAFZA’s services via smart phones. This move is part of DAFZA’s support for the recently launched initiative by H.H. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to transform Dubai into a smart city.

Throughout its participation at GITEX 2014 running from October 12 to 16, 2014 at the Dubai International Convention & Exhibition Centre (DICEC), DAFZA will showcase its state-of-the-art portfolio of innovative services and solutions, including its safety and security smart services which reflect the Authority’s commitment to creating an integrated work environment catering to the various needs of regional and international investors.

Buthaina Bin Fahad, Director of Information & Communication Technology department, DAFZA, explained the importance of participating in GITEX 2014, which forms an ideal platform to feature the latest smart services, technologies and digital applications in addition to enhancing the exchange of knowledge and the sharing of best ICT smart practices which have become major pillars of development in the 21^st century. Bin Fahad added that being an exhibitor at the 34^th edition of the event demonstrates DAFZA’s full commitment to introducing the business community and leading decision-makers to its wide range of smart services, further promoting its leading position as one of the most advanced free zones in the world.

Bin Fahad concluded: “Unveiling our new and advanced services at Gitex Dubai 2014 is part of DAFZA’s ongoing efforts to support Dubai’s transformation into a smart city by 2020 in line with the vision and directives of H.H. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. We follow an ambitious strategy aimed at offering the highest standards of quality and support while also providing an integrated infrastructure and inter-connected smart services to expedite DAFZA’s progress towards becoming an international gateway for companies looking to build a strong presence in the Middle East and South Africa region.”

DAFZA currently comprises 1,600 international companies, 17% of which operate within the ICT industry – one of DAFZA’s major sectors. It currently serves more than 20 vital industries, including electronics, engineering, aviation & aerospace, logistics, finance and many more. Through its robust presence across the regional and international markets, DAFZA was awarded the titlesof Global Free Zones of the Future 2012/13 and top Middle East Free Zones of the Future 2013/14 by Foreign Direct Investment (fDi) magazine.

DAFZA enjoys a strategic location in the heart of the city and next to Dubai International Airport – the world’s second-busiest airport by passenger throughput and the world’s fifth busiest cargo airport in 2013. Some of the investment incentives and facilities that DAFZA offers include its strategic geographical location, 100 per cent tax exemption, 100 per cent foreign company ownership, and no currency restrictions, among many others.

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